Warsaw and Berlin Continue to Disagree on EU Constitution

Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz and his German colleague Joschka Fischer were at pains to stress how important a rapid agreement on the Constitution is for Europe. "It will not get easierm," said Fischer according to the German daily Handelsblatt. "The quicker it goes, the better for Europe." Cimoszewicz said: "Europe needs a Constitution not only because of the content but also because of its symbolic value." He added that it would better if an agreement could be reached before official enlargement of the EU on May 1, which is why Poland wants a compromise "as quickly as possible." Negotiations on the text failed last month over the controversial issue of vote weighting. Under the proposed new system, which takes into account member states' populations, Germany stands to gain the most. But Poland, which currently has a relatively good weighting under the Nice Treaty, would lose out. (EUObserver.com)